European operation returns 48 pieces of Portuguese religious art stolen from churches in the north of the country

Forty-eight pieces of religious art allegedly stolen from churches in northern Portugal have been unearthed as part of Europe’s Operation Pandora VII, Europe’s Europol news agency reported this Thursday.

Europol said in a statement that “48 religious sculptures and other religious artifacts” unearthed during the European operation must be linked “to a series of 15 robberies carried out in churches in northern Portugal between 1992 and 2003.”

Contacting the Lusa news agency, an official source in the Judicial Police stated that they did not have additional information about the operation in a timely manner.

According to Europol, Operation Pandora VII, led by the Spanish Civil Guard, was carried out in 2022 with the participation of 14 countries and led to the arrest of 60 people and the discovery of 1,049 artifacts and works of art.

Between May and October, the investigation “conducted more than 8,495 online checks and seized 4,017 stolen goods”, and in September “several thousand checks were carried out at airports, ports and border posts, as well as auction houses, museums. and homes of individuals,” says Europol.

According to the same organization, about 130 investigations are still ongoing.

In addition to the 48 works of sacred art discovered in Portugal, the operation also enabled, among other things, the return of 77 old books in Italy and more than 3,000 old coins in an “online sale” by the Polish authorities.

Operation Pandora launched in 2016 to combat the criminal activity of theft, trafficking and trafficking in works of art and cultural property.